Europe has no shortage of strategies for its future. Yet it faces one problem that cannot be resolved through another summit: Europeans are ageing, birth rates are declining and the workforce is shrinking.
Demographic change is no longer a distant forecast. It is an economic reality already affecting growth, business, labour markets, pension systems and public finances.
This demographic time bomb will be at the heart of Professor Panos Tsakloglou’s keynote address at the Limassol Economic Forum. Entitled “Europe’s Demographic Time Bomb: Growth, Labour Markets, Pensions and the Economics of an Ageing Continent,” his intervention will examine what happens when a continent must finance more pensions, paid over longer periods, with fewer people of working age.
The equation is politically difficult and economically unforgiving. A smaller workforce means reduced productive capacity and fiercer competition for skilled employees. At the same time, rising life expectancy is placing greater pressure on pension systems, healthcare services and government budgets.
For businesses, demographic change means labour shortages, higher costs and the need to rethink how work is organised. For governments, it means difficult decisions on retirement ages, social contributions, migration and how to bring more people into the workforce.
Demographic destiny, however, does not necessarily mean economic decline.
Artificial intelligence and automation can boost productivity and help offset some of the gaps created by worker shortages. Longer — but healthier — working lives can retain valuable experience within the economy. A better-designed migration policy can also strengthen the labour force, provided it is accompanied by effective integration, training and social cohesion.
Tsakloglou understands this debate from both its academic and policymaking perspectives. He is Professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business and a member of the Monetary Policy Council of the Bank of Greece. As Greece’s former Deputy Minister of Labour responsible for Social Insurance, he was directly involved in reforms affecting workers, pensioners and the long-term sustainability of the welfare system.
The message of his address is not that Europe is condemned to decline. It is that the time for easy postponements is running out.
Demographic change unfolds slowly - until its consequences suddenly appear everywhere.
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CONFERENCE INFORMATION
Organisers: IMH and IN Business magazine
Platinum Partners: Bank of Cyprus, bbf:, Deloitte Cyprus, Elias Neocleous & Co LLC, Finstella
In association with: Cyprus LSE Alumni Association
Mobility Partner: TOYOTA
Supported by: Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Invest Cyprus, National Betting Authority, Cyprus Shipping Chamber
Media Partners: Alpha Cyprus, Cyprus Business News (CBN), GOLD magazine
For further information and registrations, please contact IMH:
Telephone: 77777741
Fax: 22679820
Email: events@imhbusiness.com
